February 19, 2007

Jimmy Carter's Grammy

Here's something I thought was really quite outrageous. Jimmy Carter won a Grammy for his recent book.

Jimmy Carter became the second former U.S. president to win a
Grammy Award when he was honored in the spoken-word category on Sunday
for the audio-book version of his bestseller "Our Endangered Values:
America's Moral Crisis."

Carter, 82, shared the award
in a rare tie with actress Ruby Dee and her late husband Ossie Davis
for "With Ossie and Ruby: In This Life Together."

Davis, a prominent actor and civil rights activist died of natural causes in 2005, aged 87.

Carter was not present at the music industry's biggest event, which was held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Former
President Bill Clinton won spoken-word Grammys in 2004 and 2005, as did
his wife, U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, in 1997 while she was still
first lady.

Now, I can understand someone winning a book prize for having written a book. I can also understand an actor, a voice over artist, even a producer, getting a Grammy for the recording of a book. But I don't get the book writer getting the Grammy for something they didn't do.